Tom Waits - Big Time
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Free Music Notes for Big Time
Free Music Review: A treat for Waits fans
Hit: 4 Stars
Big Time is a satisfying, though not revelatory, live album from Tom Waits. It features mainly a selection of the best of his material from Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Frank's Wild Years, as well as a few tracks from earlier albums. Waits is an artist who has rarely performed live (especially in later years, and especially this material), and it is quite a treat for fans to hear him live. The performances here are all well, but they generally stick fairly close to their studio counterparts, and only a few are revelatory. In contrast with his earlier live shows, Tom rarely talks to the audience here - when he does, it's for a totally wry aside that you'll love and treasure. As anyone who has heard any of Wait's music since the early 80's, it's quite complex music and uses an extremely odd and unique array of instrumentation. You'll be quite surprised to learn, then, that the band that Tom has assembled here reproduces these songs in all their glory quite well. That said, though, there is also that fact's counterpart to be said about the album: since these songs aren't that much different from the original versions - aside from (perhaps unintentional) differing vocal inflections from Tom - you probably won't want to pick up this album unless you are a die-hard fan. A couple of the versions here are definitive, and an immense improvement over the studio versions (Way Down In The Hole), and there is also the previously unavailable studio recording, Falling Down, stuck into the middle of the album. I recommend getting all of Tom's excellent studio albums first, and then picking this up later if you want more.Free Music Review: Not for the uninitiated
Hit: 4 Stars
If you're new to Tom Waits, skip over this CD for a while. If you've lived with Tom Waits's songs for some time you might be ready to hear this eclectic, bizarre, and energetic collection of live performances. Some of the songs are almost totally reinvented - recognizable only by the lyrics (Red Shoes, Big Black Mariah). Some are played exactly the same as the original recording with sometimes better results (Ruby's Arms) and sometimes inferior results (Johnsburg, Illinois, Train Song). There's also the delightfully strange and funny pre-song banter and story telling that he's well known for. For me, the absolute highlight of the CD is the song "Falling Down" which is the only studio track and ranks among the best songs of his entire career. It's oddly buried in the middle of the CD without fanfare, but to me it's a major selling point of the CD. Recently, I viewed the video "Big Time" (long out of print and a collectors item - check Ebay -- they go for over a hundred bucks!) and was quite surprised to find that there is very little overlap between the movie and the CD. Even some cases where the same song is on both, it is a different version. I guess that's just one more quirk in this quirky CD.Free Music Review: An alternative look at some alternative songs
Hit: 4 Stars
Really, only Tom Waits could re-invent a Tom Waits tune. The mad genius that goes behind his music is so deep, so broad, that any lesser musician who attempts to dissect the material (or, God forbid, make it their own) is stepping into a pool of quicksand.
Therefore, "Big Time" is an album only Tom Waits could do. To be true, these songs weren't meant to be performed live, and most lose something in translation to the stage. However, they are still good ol' tunes about...um, well, we're not quite sure what they're about. The wayward soul anthem "Train Song" is prefaced by a Civil War love story (of a violent, bloody, head-cocking sort). The Christian-themed "Way Down In the Hole" features an all-too-devilish rasp. And "16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six" is simply bada**, if I may coin a phrase. These 18 tunes are probably not Waits' best-to-date, but what the hell--they're ecclectic enough to make you listen repeatedly for a meaning that probably isn't there in the first place. And somewhere along the way, you're almost bound to lose your sanity.
Free Music Review: The best way in to Tom Waits...
Hit: 4 Stars
This isn't Tom Wait's best album, but it is a terrific introduction to his music - a mostly live set of early and middle era songs, punctuated with a little hilarious commentary. Practically every song has a throw-away phrase that would inspire an entire album or short story from any other writer. The music alternates between jagged and gorgeous, cynical and sentimental, lush and spiky. I sing my girlfriend to sleep with "Johnsburg, Illinois", and then lie awake myself thinking about the implications of "16 Shells from a 30-06" or "Telephone Call from Istanbul." Great stuff in its own right, but it also makes you want to get the original albums to hear where the songs come from.Free Music Review: Uhhh, what's going on here. . . ?
Hit: 3 Stars
I LOVE the old Tom Waits. Heart Attack and Vine, Heart of Saturday Night, Blue Valentine, Closing Time, Nighthawks at the Diner -- you get the picture. Don't get me wrong, I've known lots of folks who think Swordfish Trombones and Big Time and that part of his work is great. I respect their opinions and wish I could get into this stuff, but it just doesn't work for me. The Waits stuff I love, I love as much as any other music in the world. His artistry is unmatched. Ah, well. I'm glad he's going where his vision takes him. Just wish it was a place I wanted to follow. . . .